15/03/2011 (Channel News Asia) - Thailand faces shortages of staples as the global cost of food skyrockets; the country faces shortages of cooking oil and sugar due to government price controls and hoarding.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says the global cost of food in February reached the highest level it has ever recorded.

Panic buying has caused staple shortages in the market, and governement price freezes do not hold in the event of shortages.

The price of palm oil, the country's most popular cooking medium, and a main ingredient in other items from soap to shortening, has increased 40 per cent.

Price controls on 20 basic household products will expire at the end of the month, pushing prices up 10 to 15 per cent.

But vendors at markets like these say prices have already been increasing for some time.

The price of poultry has also increased, with prices of beef and pork going up nearly US$1 per kilogram last month.

Some say the government needs to let market mechanisms work and not control prices. The high cost of food is expected to be a major issue in upcoming elections expected to be held in the next few months.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is hoping to do well at the polls after a year of relative calm, however rising food prices and shortages may impact voters.